William Lane Craig

1. 1965Becomes a Christian at sixteen

   In his high-school junior year he first heard the Christian message and committed his life to Christ.

   Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…
2. 1977PhD in philosophy

   After a B.A. at Wheaton College (1971) and master's degrees in theology, he earns a PhD in philosophy at the University of Birmingham.

   Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…
3. 1979The Kalam Cosmological Argument

   He publishes his book reviving the kalam argument for a beginning of the universe.

   Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…
4. 1984Second doctorate in Munich

   He earns a doctorate in theology at the University of Munich, where he studied the resurrection of Jesus.

   Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…
5. 1994Reasonable Faith and Talbot

   He publishes the second edition of his book Reasonable Faith and joins Talbot School of Theology.

   Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…2
6. 2001Debate with Marcus Borg on the resurrection

   At the University of North Texas he argues that Jesus rose bodily, from four facts: the burial, the empty tomb, the appearances and the disciples' belief.

   Video 2001 · Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…
7. 2009Debate with Christopher Hitchens

   At Biola University he presents five arguments for God in front of thousands of people.

   Video 2009 · Does God Exist? The…23
8. 2011Debates with Sam Harris and Lawrence Krauss

   In April 2011 he debates Harris on whether there can be objective morality without God. With Krauss he debates 'Is there evidence for God?' at North Carolina State University.

   Article 2011 · Lawrence Krauss: Response and…2
9. 2013Debate with Shabir Ally on Jesus

   In a week of debates he argues that the resurrection best explains the empty tomb and the disciples' belief, and that Shabir Ally's alternative would make God a deceiver.

   In their words

   « I think that the best explanation of these facts is that the disciples were right that Jesus had raised from the dead »Argues the resurrection of Jesus best explains the appearances and the disciples' belief. watch

   « his hypothesis turns God into a deceiver who fooled the disciples into believing Jesus was risen from the dead »Objects that Shabir's view (Jesus taken to heaven, visions only) makes God a deceiver. watch

   « I must say I'm stunned at the weakness of his response to the arguments that I've given »Judges Shabir Ally's replies weak at the end of their week of debates. watch

   Video 2013 · Christianity & Islam: Who Is the…
10. 2014Debate with Sean Carroll on God and cosmology

    At the Greer-Heard Forum in New Orleans he defends the kalam argument and fine-tuning against Carroll, a physicist.

    Article 2014 · Post-debate reflections (Sean…
11. 2016God Over All

    He publishes a book defending God's independence from abstract objects such as numbers; he rejects the view that they exist on their own.

    Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…2
12. 2016Faith as trust, not blind belief

    He says he knows his faith is true through the inner witness of the Spirit, and shows it through arguments. He recalls that he first doubted the contingency argument, then accepted a more modest version (Stephen Davis).

    In their words

    « a theistic view of the world is better at getting things right »Says theism is closer to the truth than any atheistic religion such as Buddhism. watch

    « For me, faith is trusting in what you have good reason to think is true. »Rejects faith as belief without evidence: faith is trust in what has good reasons. watch

    « the Big Bang is the beginning of time and space »Takes the Big Bang as the beginning of time and space, so God's creation is simultaneous with it. watch

    Video 2016 · The End of Philosophy of…23
13. 2019Reasonable Faith UK tour

    In lectures and a debate with Peter Millican he argues that the cause of the universe is an unembodied mind, and that without God morality is plausibly a human convention.

    In their words

    « there exists an unembodied mind which created the universe which is what most people have traditionally meant by the word God »Lecture at Imperial College: the explanation of the contingent universe is a transcendent personal cause. watch

    « if God does not exist then morality is plausibly just a human convention »Lecture at SOAS: without God morality is plausibly a human convention, so the moral argument. watch

    « I think that the concept of God in Islam is morally inadequate »He criticizes the Muslim concept of God as not the greatest conceivable being, because its love is conditional. watch

    Video 2019 · The Case for Christian Theism:…23
14. 2019 Change of mindChanges his mind on the kalam and the theory of time

    He says he has changed his mind: he once rooted the first premise of the kalam (what begins to exist has a cause) in the A-theory of time, but philosophers showed him that B-theorists would find an uncaused horse just as absurd. His own reasons for the premise are still grounded in the A-theory, but he now thinks B-theorists should accept it too.

    In their words

    « I do like the Kalam argument better and the reason would be simply because its premises I think are so much more plausible and perspicuous ly true »He prefers the kalam to other cosmological arguments because its premises are more plausible. watch

    « whatever begins to exist as a cause is virtually undeniable for any sincere inquiry after truth »He calls the first premise of the kalam virtually undeniable. watch

    « I have defended the lab nits in version of the argument from contingency »He says he also defends the Leibnizian argument from contingency. watch

    Video 2019 · Why the Kalam Cosmological…
15. 2021In Quest of the Historical Adam

    He publishes a book on how to understand Adam as a historical figure.

    Article 2026 · Biographical Sketch - Reasonable…2
16. 2022Answers a video critique of the kalam

    On his podcast he replies that actual infinities such as Hilbert's Hotel are metaphysically impossible though not strictly contradictory, that the kalam needs only the smallest infinite number, and that it does not depend on belief in immortality.

    In their words

    « there's really a lot less than meets the eye »Replying to a video of scientists criticizing the kalam, he says it misrepresents the argument and adds little. watch

    « illustrations like hilbert's hotel and bernadette's book may not be strictly logically impossible but i think they are metaphysically impossible »He says an actually infinite number of things is metaphysically impossible, though not strictly self-contradictory. watch

    « the kalam cosmological argument is concerned only with the least trans finite number aleph null »He stresses that the kalam only needs the smallest infinite number, so objections about higher infinities miss it. watch

    Video 2022 · PART ONE - WLC Responds to a…23
17. 2023Defending the kalam against new objections

    With Trent Horn he restates that an actually infinite past is metaphysically impossible, not strictly self-contradictory, and that time flows objectively.

    In their words

    « I'm arguing that it's metaphysically impossible but not that there is some sort of a strict logical contradiction in the notion of an actually infinite number of things »He clarifies that an actual infinite is metaphysically impossible, not strictly self-contradictory. watch

    « I hold to the view that temporal becoming is real and objective »He defends the tensed view of time, with temporal becoming real. watch

    « I think these are great illustrations that show the absurdity of an actually infinite temporal regress of events »He welcomes Horn's paper-passing paradox and the Grim Reaper as showing an infinite past is absurd. watch

    Video 2023 · Does This Fix the Kalam…2
18. 2024Replies to Dawkins

    Reacting to Richard Dawkins's remarks, he says God's existence is a philosophical question and not only a scientific one, and that Dawkins has not answered his critics.

    In their words

    « the Central argument in The God Delusion is a logical mess »He says Dawkins's book fails and that Dawkins has not answered his critics. watch

    « Dawkins refused to debate me uh over and over again »He says Dawkins repeatedly refused to debate him and gave shifting excuses. watch

    « that Dawkins does not grasp is that it's not just a scientific question the question of the existence of God uh is a profound philosophical question »Replies to Dawkins that God's existence is a philosophical question, not only a scientific one. watch

    Video 2024 · Dawkins: Religion Is Still Evil…2
19. 2024God's moral perfection as righteousness

    At a moral philosophy conference he argues that God's moral perfection is best understood as righteousness, which includes both love and just punishment, and that God has no duties of his own.

    In their words

    « God's moral perfection is most adequately conceived as his righteousness »He argues God's moral perfection is righteousness, which includes both love and retributive justice, not love alone. watch

    « God's giving the guilty their just desert does not preclude his loving them »He says punishment and love are compatible, like a judge who loves the person he sentences. watch

    « God himself has no moral duties »On divine command theory, he says God has no duties, since no one above him issues commands; he acts from his good nature. watch

    Video 2024 · Moral Philosophy Conference | Is…23
20. 2025Hiddenness and fine-tuning

    At Passion City Church he names divine hiddenness as the strongest atheistic argument and answers it, and says fine-tuning now comes down to a multiverse or God.

    In their words

    « Argument number one is the argument from contingency. This argument holds that God makes sense of why anything at all exists. »He presents the argument from contingency as the first of his arguments for God. watch

    « As a professional philosopher, I think that there are a number of good arguments for the existence of God. »He says there are good arguments, meaning ones that make God's existence more probable than not. watch

    « The universe is composed of contingent things, things that didn't have to exist. And the universe itself doesn't seem to be metaphysically necessary. »Answering why the universe could not exist without a cause, he says it is contingent, as its beginning shows. watch

    Video 2025 · Arguments for the Existence of…2

The arguments 15

The site's arguments they defend or criticize, and why. Click a title to see the full argument.

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